Report: Phillies not shopping for an outfielder

The Philadelphia Phillies have not had great luck in two areas they had depth in to begin the season. Their bullpen has six players on the injured list and Seranthony Dominguez left Wednesday’s game with what is being described as a mild elbow strain.

Their outfield depth has been depleted as well. The Phils started the season with  Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen and Odubel Herrera as their starters with Nick Williams, Roman Quinn and even Scott Kingery as reserve options.

Odubel Herrera is still on administrative leave stemming from a domestic violence incident, Andrew McCutchen is out for the year with a torn ACL, Nick Williams has been up-and-down between Triple-A Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia while Roman Quinn can’t seem to shake the injury bug.

Prior to McCutchen’s injury, the Phillies acquired veteran outfielder Jay Bruce from the Mariners. He can play the corner outfield spots and give Rhys Hoskins a break every now and then at first base while providing some pop off the bench. His role has since changed. McCutchen tore his ACL, so the Phillies summoned top prospect Adam Haseley from Lehigh Valley, and he’s seeing regular time now in center with Bruce in left field.

Jay Bruce is 6-for-11 in his first three games with two doubles, three homers and seven RBIs. Meanwhile, Haseley tallied his first big league hit and RBI during the team’s win on Wednesday. Even with all of the depleted depth, the Phillies seem content with how things are for the time being and are not actively searching for another outfielder, according to Jayson Stark of The Athletic.

As Jay Bruce keeps doing his Matt Stairs impression, sources say the #Phillies aren't doing any further OF shopping for now.

Current plan seems to be Bruce/Haseley/Kingery sharing most of the LF/CF playing time, waiting for Roman Quinn's return and reevaluating their OF in July

— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) June 5, 2019

While we will certainly see Scott Kingery manning an outfield spot from time to time, he has all but taken the starting third base spot from Maikel Franco, who has just three hits in his last 23 at-bats.

As for Roman Quinn, there’s a good chance he returns from his groin injury by the end of June. He’s appeared in seven games this season for the Phillies, tallying just three hits with 14 strikeouts.